Various techniques required to display three-dimensional (3D) images have been disclosed so far, and have been put into practical applications. However, since, for example, the brightness and resolution of 3D images are inferior to those of two-dimensional (2D) images, 3D image-compatible devices such as 3D televisions have not prevailed.
However, in recent years, the advent of large-capacity optical discs such as Blu-ray® Discs (BDs) and the prevalence of full-high-definition (full-HD) televisions allow to play back high-quality 3D images. For this reason, it is expected that 3D image-compatible devices will prevail rapidly.
A 3D image-compatible device not only can display 3D images as the 3D images intact, but also can convert 3D images into 2D images and display them as the 2D images.
However, when 3D images are converted into 2D images and the 2D images are displayed, image quality often deteriorates. In recent years, the image quality enhancement technique of 2D images has been greatly advanced, and a demand has arisen for application of such image quality enhancement technique to 3D images as well.